WASHINGTON, DC—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) issued the following statement on today’s hearing of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health and Technology to examine the current definition of full-time employment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as 30 hours per week, and the impact of this definition on small businesses nationwide:

“Increasing the healthcare law’s current definition of full-time status would be a win-win for hard-working Americans and their employers, and would benefit our entire economy,” stated Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of AH&LA. “Employees would have the ability to work more hours and increase their take-home pay, employers would be able to provide more generous health coverage—without prohibitive premium costs—to full-time employees, and lower-income employees would have greater access to affordable coverage options.”

The lodging industry is advocating for changes in the current law to allow for a definition of full-time status that is more in keeping with current employment practices. The current ACA definition could lead to disruptions in the workforce and does not allow employees to maintain flexible work schedules, according to AH&LA.

“We appreciate Chairman Collins convening today’s hearing and urge Congress to build upon this first step to thoroughly examine the problematic impacts of the ACA full-time definition as currently written,” stated Lugar. “At a time when our still-fragile economic recovery is being hamstrung by gridlock in Washington, we would hope that Congress would take every opportunity to strengthen the ability of our nation's small businesses to provide good jobs and good benefits for all employees. Now is the time for us to focus on policies that drive economic growth and job creation; redefining full-time status is an important step in that effort.”